According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, 11 bodies were recovered from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan’s shoreline last year with most of the victims being men in their twenties or thirties. This sparked renewed interest in the theory that serial killers were preying on young men across the Midwest.
They disappeared in the city’s nightlife districts frequently. In most of these cases, we still don’t know what killed the person. Three were ruled accidents, one was ruled a suicide and seven were ruled undetermined by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, as reported by Newsweek.
According to a statement provided to Newsweek by the office, “The manner of death is ruled undetermined” when there is no witness to a drowning and no evidence of accident, suicide or homicide. In the event that new evidence is submitted, the Office will evaluate it and make a decision on whether or not to revise its original ruling.
However, many locals in the Chicago area have speculated that serial killers may be to blame due to the baffling nature of the deaths and the large number of bodies discovered. According to the Chicago Police Marine Unit, another adult male body was discovered in the Chicago River in Bridgeport on Wednesday.
2828 S Eleanor
Recovery of an adult male floating in the river, Documented by Amb 69, recovery made by CPD marine unit
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) February 8, 2023
Who is the Smiley-Face Killer?
Kevin Gannon, Anthony Duarte and Lee Gilberton, then a criminal justice professor and gang expert at New York University proposed the Smiley Face Murder theory in 1997. Following the simultaneous discovery of the bodies of three college-aged men in urban rivers, this occurred.
They suspect a serial killer or killers are responsible for the deaths of a number of young men who have been discovered in water bodies in multiple Midwestern states between the late 1990s and the 2010s. Drowning accidents are listed as the official cause of death in the majority of cases.
At least 45 college-aged men were discovered dead in the water across 11 states in the early 2000s and the detectives have been working to determine a pattern in their deaths. Currently, Gannon told Newsweek their database contains 681 cases that they believe are linked.
In 2008, Gannon told CNN that he thought the men had been drugged and abducted from bars, held and possibly mentally or physically abused, before being killed. According to Duarte, the young men who were allegedly selected as targets were all well-liked, athletic and stellar students.
Although Gannon hasn’t done extensive research into the recent Chicago body discoveries, he claims they are related. He said, “I have to say that I would say they are connected because you have so many of them in such a short period of time.”
He claimed that the gang knows they can do whatever they want and is therefore becoming more brazen. They are picking it up naturally and rightly so. They can act recklessly because they know there will be no repercussions. Gannon further stated that these purported murders in Chicago have persisted since 1999.
If you want to know about these kinds of mysterious posts, you can read our these articles which we have given below, in these posts we covered so much information:
- Ex-FBI Profiler: Kaylee Goncalves Injuries Indicate She Was the Killer’s Target
- ‘I Was a Monster’ Killer Confession! Brittanee Drexel Cause of Death Can Shock You Entirely
Why Do We Refer to Them as “Smiley Face Killings?”
According to Gannon’s interview with Newsweek, the term “smiley face” comes from graffiti depicting a smiley face and 13 other distinct symbols found near the locations where they believe the killers dumped the bodies.
According to him, the group is actually leaving symbols behind letting you know, Yes this was us come and catch us. He went on to say that each city has its own unique symbol. However, experts in the field of law enforcement and other related fields are skeptical.
If you’re interested in reading more about mysterious posts, we’ve provided links to a few articles that cover a wide range of topics:
- Who is the Hook Killer in Gh and Who will Become his Next Victim?
- True Story Behind Kyle Morgan Crime: The Reality of the ‘Ritualistic and Brutal’ Killing
How lethal are smiley faces, if at all?
The FBI received information in 2008 about young, college-aged men who were found deceased in rivers in the Midwest and promptly disproved this theory.
Supervisory Special Agent Richard J. Kolko stated at the time that the FBI had reviewed the information about the victims provided by two retired police detectives who have dubbed these incidents the “Smiley Face Murders” and had interviewed an individual who provided information to the detectives.
Recent information about the serial killer has been included in this post. Nothing we have found thus far supports the theory that a single serial killer is responsible for all of these heinous murders. We promise to keep you apprised of developments in the case of the serial killer as they occur. Stay tuned to our official Twitter page for the latest updates on this and related matters.